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Free guided meditation sites and apps have been some of the most valuable tools for supporting both my physical and mental health over the past decade.
In our increasingly fast faced world, many are understandably turning to the age-old practice of meditation to disconnect, slow down and regain some semblance of calm.
Perhaps paradoxically, a quick search for ‘free guided meditations’ churns up close to 7 million results at the time of writing. Decision fatigue is real, and knowing where to start and what style of meditation practice is right for you isn’t always the clearest in the beginning.
You’d no doubt find your way, but as I’ve experimented with a fair few over the years, I thought I’d whittle down some of my favourites.
In this article, you’ll find a selection of free guided meditation sites and apps, along with some free sample tracks where possible.
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A growing library of guided meditations, breathwork and somatic practices (plus access to all my movement & mobility programs).
The Best Free Guided Meditation Sites and Apps 2023I began using Insight Timer’s basic meditation timer during the pandemic when I as looking to strip things back to basics. You can set the length, any background music and chimes. It’s a simple, fuss-free way to practice.
During my recovery from chronic pain & long-covid, I took a deeper dive into their huge library of free guided meditations. I’ve particularly benefitted from the work of Tara Brach and Jack Cornfield, guided yoga nidra with Ally Boothroyd, and some of the Internal Family Systems content from Richard Schwartz.
You’ll also find mood tracking, sleep stories, meditation music, live yoga classes and more.
I’m now a teacher on Insight Timer, sharing some of the practices that have helped me the most over several years of exploring mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and other somatic practices.
Here’s a sample track if you’d like to take a look: Two Minute Pause: Breathe Into Safety
One Giant Mind teaches a simple mantra-based meditation style akin to that used in transcendental meditation. After many years of experimentation, it’s a style that I’ve found incredibly effective and easy to practise.
Calm is primarily a paid app, but they put together a free guided meditation resource guide with a selection of different styles to help you get started.
When using the paid version of the app, I got a lot out of Jeff Warren’s ‘Daily Trip’ meditations and the 30 day guide he put together. Jeff has his own YouTube channel and website with a library of practises that are definitely worth checking out.
Developed by Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe and his business partner Rich Pierson, Headspace was the first resources that helped me establish a more regular meditation habit.
If some of the more esoteric and spiritual language around meditation doesn’t really speak to you, Headspace does a good job of presenting the material in a more modern way, leaning more into the science and everyday application.
The ten day ‘Take Ten’ series is free to try out, and the paid app contains a whole host of meditation series and sleep stories.
Do Yoga With Me was my gateway into yoga as a teenager, with a range of follow along yoga videos (hip flexor heaven used to be my go-to).
Along with various yoga practices and stretching routines, you’ll also find a library of guided meditation tracks too with a wide range of styles for you to dive into.
Again, many different types of mindfulness meditation by various teachers. All tracks are free to download and distribute non-commercially.
One slight downfall is that it doesn’t seem to be possible to listen to the meditation tracks online – you have to download them. It just makes previewing the audio slightly more difficult, but it’s really not a big deal. It’s still a solid resource!
A simple, clear introduction to various basic meditation styles including breathing meditation, body scans and loving kindness.
The tracks range from 3-15 minutes – ideal for beginners who are just getting into forming the meditation habit.
I interviewed Elizabeth Blaikie, founder of Fragrant Heart, several years ago on my old website, Health Room.
Elizabeth and her family have done an excellent job of collecting a wide range of meditation styles geared towards stress relief, healing, supporting self-esteem, and more.
Some tracks are as short as a minute, which is great for getting started, and there’s also a free guided meditation course you can explore.
Tara is a world renowned meditation teacher, and her site is a goldmine of mindfulness knowledge.
It contains a massive library of at least a hundred guided meditation tracks to keep you going, along with a selection of talks.
Tara’s RAIN technique is something I’ve found particularly useful in managing stress and becoming more in tune with hidden emotions and messages from the body.
One of the most popular meditation podcast on iTunes right now.
It’s not updated all that regularly, but there’s still plenty of episodes in the catalogue to work your way through.
Again, there’s a wide variety of meditation styles available.
Audio Dharma is a massive resource, with around forty free guided meditations available from a variety of teachers, as well as a shed load of interesting talks and videos on mindfulness.
They also have a great podcast if you’re a fan of listening on the move.
I stumbled upon Dharma Seed after a comment from a reader a while back (thanks Gil).
It’s an incredible resource, with thousands of free guided meditation tracks and talks from teachers from all around the world. I’ve not delved too deep into the library yet, but from what I’ve heard so far, it’s a great site with a shedload of useful content.
Any free guided meditation sites you would add to the list? Let me know in the comments section below!
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64 Responses
I LOVE guided meditation – thanks so much for compiling this list!
Thanks Bianca, hope you find it useful! Keep up the great work at The Friendly Fig!
Great list! Tara Brach is amazing! I was recommended one of her books a while back “True Refuge” and really loved it! I only recently found out that she did meditation videos so that’s been great! Will have to check out some of the others on this list too 🙂 thanks for the reccomendations!
Thanks Olesya, will add that book to my list and check it out sometime, thanks!
What a great list. I will definitely give some a try. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers guys, much appreciated! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Try my Meditation and affirmation channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiWWaR8E1Bs. Peace, one love, Lucia x
Thanks Lucia, will check it out!
hi Luke i got a new mediation app that is the 528hz healing frequency. Looped with mediation sounds. The 528hz frequency should really be called the Tinnitus frequency as they are identical. Instead of perceiving Tinnitus as a hearing problem it should be realised that the brain is using this frequency to protect and repair itself. This healing with sound theory was used by many ancient cultures including the Egyptians. My app is very simple. It is the 528hz with meditative music. You can set a timer and leave it on while you sleep. It’s great for sleep problems. I can’t paste the link for some reason. If you can send me an email I can send you the link. It in the playstore under my name and should have an Egyptian eye picture. The title is The 3rd Eye by 3rd eye blind. I don’t know how to send a free copy of the app or I would. Thanks
A nice list, thanks for sharing these!
Cheers guys! Just catching up on comments and must have missed yours! Hope all is well 🙂
What happens when we don’t get enough sleep?
Hi Luke,
We’ve recently re-launched our site… meditainment.com… with two meditations free on registration including the highly popular Secret Garden. Please check it out and feel free to link us if you ever update this superb resources post of yours. Cheers 🙂
Will.
Cheers guys, I’ll definitely check it out when I get round to updating this post! Keep up the great work!
We’d love to give you free membership if you’re interested 🙂
This is a really old post but I love meditainment! I was actually here looking for meditations similar to meditainment because they only have 18 meditations up right now and meditations start to lose their effect on me if I listen to them more than once. Please make more meditainment team! Does anybody know of similar meditations which “take you” to far away places and have you visualize yourself somewhere relaxing? There must be others
Hi Monika,
I feel the same way when I repeat a meditation several times… now I know that it’s best if you are able to go to that calm place with no guidance but I’m not quite there yet. +1 on making more content to the Meditainment team 🙂
My way of dealing with this was to ask my BF to find me the most popular meditation YouTube channels – and he went a step further and put everything together for me. I thought it was a good idea so I opened it up and now I just keep adding new channels as I discover them hope you discover something you’ll like here: HD Meditation
This is great I appreciate the list of sites you can also checkout my article about the benefits of guided meditations at: https://meditationstash.com/benefits-of-guided-meditation/
Thanks Paul!
I think dharmaseed is missing in the list. It takes more budhist- teravada line but it is amazing with the quantity
of tracks it has of many excellent teachers which include both teachings, and guided meditations recorded live.
Thanks Gil, I’ve heard DharmaSeed mentioned before – I’ll definitely check it out and add it to the list when I next update the post!
thanks for helping the whole world regarding meditation.
Thanks Raman! Enjoyed putting this post together, and will be doing an update sometime over the next few months, so watch this space 🙂
A very good resource list.
Do check out my post for some good videos on guided meditation
http://theanxietymeditation.com/best-guided-meditation-for-anxiety/
Thanks Adesa, will do!
Good list, am not really a big fan of guided meditation, but it’s great for beginners. I do like Deepak Chopra stuff
I cannot find : 3. Chopra Centred Lifestyle 🙁
Hi maria – just checked and the link should be working fine now 🙂
This is an excellent resource. In my experience, guided meditation is great for beginners who are looking to get into the habit of meditating. As you become more accustomed to daily meditation, I recommend meditating without an audio guide.
Cheers!
Thanks Dan! Yep I’m currently making the transition myself 🙂
Nice list, thanks! I use Pauzzi for keeping breath rhythm stable. It has 1 minute training which I use in underground or in dentist’s waiting room 🙂 . For Android: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mmm.app.pauzzi
Thanks Mike – will check it out at some point!
Great article with lots of great info! I particularly liked the mention of Dharma Seed…none of the articles out there have it mentioned so kudos to that. Something that’s missing is some focus on mental health apps. Mental health issues are on the rise, in fact something around 18% of US adults have some form of mental health disease. I wrote an article mentioning some meditation and mental health apps: https://medium.com/@romansukharenko/best-20-mental-health-apps-for-2017-1fe02ebbcc61#.22apujc80. Maybe you can find some now sources on there if you would like. 🙂
Thanks for the link Roman, will definitely check it out!
Thanks Roman! Will definitely check your article out, I agree that these apps are important too and all how to contribute to a more mindful way of living 🙂
Thank you for making this list, it’s helped me discover some great new resources like Tara Brach!
I’d like to submit a humble request for consideration on your next guided meditation resource list: highlymeditated.com has 20+ guided meditations videos with topics like: relaxing under pressure, visualization for anxiety, breath, sleep and stress mediations (just to name a few) there are frequent updates and I’d love to share them with your readers.
with gratitude, Eric
Cheers Eric, glad it’s been useful for ya! Will take a good look at some point when I get the time!
THANK YOU! So very helpful
Thank you Eve 🙂
Hi, Luke
I found a meditation app, that should be listed here. The sound quality is the best I have heard so far. I just love it!
The first 3 journeys are free to listen.
https://synctuition.com/a/f7c458858f908770126505093f34df87
Cheers Kadri! Will take a look sometime!
Thanks for this Luke – great to have a place to go in the mornings for me before the ‘devil’ (the world) knows I’m up!!
You are doing a great job helping humanity. If people open their eyes they will see the the spirit within them.